KUALA LUMPUR: National carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd rebounded in February with a 107 per cent increase in sales after facing a challenging January where its production line was badly affected by unresolved flooding issues.
Proton sold 9,225 units for domestic and export last month, reclaiming the second position in the automotive sales table and putting it on track to recover lost sales from January.
Proton’s domestic market share for the month is estimated at 20.2 per cent, while for the first two months of the year,
the cumulative market share is estimated to be at 15.9 per cent.
Proton Edar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Roslan Abdullah said February’s rebound in sales is a direct result of the company being able to produce more cars.
“Our order bank remains healthy, and we remain hopeful of catching up to our targets for this year.
“As for the Malaysian automotive industry, the first two months of the year has seen strong demand as evidenced by the growth in the total industry volume (TIV) compared to 2021.
“This is good news for both car companies and the vendor community and is also a testament to the effectiveness of policies set by the government,” he said in a statement today.
For the automotive market in general, TIV for the year is estimated to have grown by 11.4 per cent compared to the first two months of 2021.
With the full resumption of production in Shah Alam and Tanjung Malim, there was a marked increase in Proton’s sales numbers across the board.
However, models such as the Proton Saga only managed half a month of normal production and sales activities, suppressing its full potential, the automaker noted in the statement.
The Saga achieved 2,951 units in February, and while this is less than its usual monthly average, the numbers are expected to return to their previous level in the coming months.
Other models fared better in comparison to
their sales targets with Proton X50 and Proton X70 closed in February with 3,002 and 1,119 units sold, allowing both to retain their hold on first place in their respective segments.
The Proton X50 was also the best-selling sports utility vehicle (SUV) in the country and has attracted over 100,000 bookings in just 16 months.
The Proton Exora also returned to the head of the C-segment multipurpose vehicle (MPV) table while big improvements for the Proton Iriz and Proton Persona saw them ending the month in fourth and second position in their respective segments.
While domestic sales still trail last year’s volume, export sales are trending upwards and have grown by 72.8 per cent
in 2022.
For the first two months of the year, 323 units have been sold in export markets compared to just 187 units of various Proton cars in 2021.
Moving ahead, Proton will continue to add to its sales and service network.
By adding the number of 3S/4S outlets, the company is also taking steps to improve its customers’ quality of after-sales service.
Roslan said the carmaker is aware of its issues regarding after-sales and parts availability and assures customers that senior management has identified several bottlenecks and operational issues that require fixing.
“The first step is to address the availability of parts, and we have implemented a mandatory requirement where
all dealers must have three months holding stock of 22 fast-moving parts.
“Our central parts centre is also subject to the same requirement, and we hope this will ease waiting times for customers,” Roslan said.
Source: New Straits Times
